This Christmas
by Dimitri's.Smexi.Shewolf
Summary: The first Christmas post-series, and Rose is loving being able to spend it with her family, both old and new. But first, gifts must be bought and the tree must be decorated before the day itself can be rung in. A bookstore, a candy cane dispute, and the best Christmas ever?
1. Chapter 1

**I tried to post this chapter last night, but my internet has been really crap for days. It's annoying. I'll try to get the next chapter of this posted today, but because of the bad internet, I can't make any promises. There should be a third chapter posted sometime on Christmas day, but depending on what time I get back to my house, I might have to post it on Boxing Day. I'm sure you have better things to do at Christmas than read this anyway ;P **

**So if I don't get to say it again before then, Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates it! And if you don't, then I hope you have a very nice 25th of December :) **

**Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead, not me. And also, I have no idea if a rare book such as the one mentioned below actually exists. I made it up, so if it resembles any real novels by the author, it's a coincidence. The one mentioned by name is similar to the name of a real one by him. **

* * *

I used to love Christmas shopping with Lissa. When the Dragomirs were alive, we'd be surrounded by a legion of Guardians and wouldn't have to worry about our safety. When we were on the run, we'd be lulled unto a false sense of security by the daylight outside the mall, and would be able to have fun depleting Lissa's trust fund.

Now, it was a lot harder to get into the festive spirit when I spent every moment scanning the crowds for threats to the Royal couple. That guy dressed in the Santa suit giving out free candy to kids? Even he could be hiding a stake somewhere.

Okay, so maybe I was just irritated that he didn't offer me a chocolate.

Another thing bringing me down was that I had no idea of what to buy anyone. Lissa and Christian already had everything they could ever need, and so did Dimitri. He was so minimalist, even in our large apartment. The only luxuries he had were his books and DVDs, and he literally had every one there was. Part of me wanted to branch out and buy him a novel that wasn't about cowboys, but then I figured that if he wanted to read other books, he would have a couple already.

Add all that to the stress of wanting to get him something really amazing for our first Christmas together, and it was no wonder I was stalling.

"Can we go check out the decorations before we shop for gifts?" I asked Lissa.

She frowned. "We don't want to be carting a tree around all day. It'd probably be better left to the end."

"We can just reserve it," I said quickly. "If we get the decorations first, we'll know exactly how long we have to buy our presents. Otherwise, it might get dark before we've found our tree and we won't be able to choose our own to put it up tomorrow."

Her (slightly misplaced) trust in my logic won out over her desire to get on and bag the perfect present for Christian. "That makes sense, actually."

Christian looked up from where he had been checking his list on his phone. "What's happening? And why is Rose making sense?"

"We're going to get the tree now rather than later," she told him, linking her arm through his now that he was no longer typing constantly.

I made eye contact with Dimitri who walked on Christian's other side, and he nodded once. That meant he'd already opened the radio link to allow the far guards to hear Lissa's decision.

If the rest of the mall had been decked out like Santa's grotto, then this shop was decorated like the garage Santa used to store all the decorations he'd ever bought in his long career. The mishmash of tinsel encircling railings and huge cardboard cut-outs displaying seasonal offers accompanied by festive cartoons was causing a sensory overload, so that when a giant plastic Santa statue moved, I almost staked him.

"Careful Rose," Christian laughed. "You'll be electrocuted if you stuff your stake in his circuit board."

"If he caught fire, I hope you'd put it out before it got to me too," I said.

"Hell no. I'd roast marshmallows." He picked up a packet from a nearby display.

Lissa looked horrified and nudged him. "Don't be so mean!"

I smirked. "It's alright, Liss. He's just threatened by my hotness."

"If you're so hot, why don't you do us all a favour and spontaneously combust? Christmas dinner will be cheaper if we don't have to fill your bottomless pit of a stomach."

I had a thousand comebacks ready for that, but they weren't worth Lissa's death due to me not being properly vigilant. My focus paid off. "Hey, Christmas trees!" I pointed to a display off to the right, and glanced around to see the far guards moving in on us.

The trees in this display were lined up along the back of the store, one of each kind put up to demonstrate the product inside the racks of long cardboard boxes. We came to a halt by the first one, and Lissa read the sign aloud.

"Pre-lit green Sanford Pencil tree."

"Looks more like a penis than a tree," I observed. A woman glared at me before towing her son away, whilst he protested at having to stop pulling fake pine needles from the tree next to us. "Huh. Guess we know which one she had her eye on."

"I think she was more bothered about protecting her child from your 'self-expression'," Dimitri said. His face was disapproving, but I could hear a smile in his voice.

"He's a boy, he should know what a penis is. And if he doesn't, then he's in serious need of an education."

"He was about 11."

"So he probably has a dirtier mind than I do."

Christian snorted. "Is that even possible?"

"Adrian," Lissa and I said in unison.

"Fair point."

Lissa moved down the line a couple of trees, skipping all the ones that looked like penises. "What about this one, Rose? Classic Pine?"

This one was a proper conical shape, flaring out at the bottom enough that we'd easily fit four peoples' presents underneath. "I like it. Guys?"

Christian nodded, but Dimitri looked critical. He stepped closer and reached up to rest his hand on top of the apex branch. He didn't have to reach far- the top of the tree would reach just above his eyebrows.

"We always had a real tree in Russia, but they always lost some of their effect when I grew to be taller than they were."

I laughed as I thought about the low ceilings in the Belikovs' living room. Dimitri was only clear of it by about two inches, and it would be impossible to put an ornament on top of a tree that was that close to the plaster.

"I knew there was an advantage to living in a palace," Lissa giggled as she called a sales assistant over. "We'll find a taller tree."

"How can I help?" the man in the elf hat asked.

"What's the next size up that this tree comes in?" she asked.

The man checked the code on the sign. "They go up in 6 inch intervals, so it would be 7 foot. I can get one from the warehouse for you?"

We went to choose decorations whilst we waited for our order to become ready. Lissa lined the bottom of the trolley with copious amounts of tinsel in every colour available. The Dragomirs had always decorated their trees with strict colour schemes depending on the room the tree was in, the most common being silver. Now that she was free of that, Lissa was going a little mental.

"I think we've got enough there Liss," Christian said as she picked up one that looked like a slice of watermelon. Catching her hand in his, he gently stopped her from removing it from the shelf. "This isn't Christmas in Hawaii."

Her disappointment didn't last long. "Okay. I guess it would crash with the forest fruit ornaments I found in my parents' storage box, anyway. I even found the one Rose took a bite out of."

I raised my hands in surrender. "I was young, the fruit looked real, and I was hungry."

* * *

After buying garlands for the mantelpiece and a wreath for our apartment doors, we split up to go shopping for gifts. My first shift was with Lissa, then I'd have an hour off duty to go and get presents without anyone looking over my shoulder. Dimitri was on his own now, and had faced the task with the same calm attitude as he would face down a pack of Strigoi.

I, on the other hand, was stressing again.

"Lissa, I have no idea what to buy Dimitri. No idea at all."

She paused from flipping through a rack of sarcastic Tshirts she wanted to buy for Christian. "Rose, you know him better than anyone. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"That's just the problem!" I joined her in searching for a medium blue shirt. "I know him well enough to know that there's nothing he really wants- at least nothing that I can buy. I don't know what Christian wants, so I'll but him crap and get away with it. But I need to buy Dimitri something that's actually good."

"You're being silly," she said. "Dimitri won't care what you buy him- he'll love it just because it's from you."

I passed her the correct shirt, envying her the gifting success. "You love me too, but you'd still be pissed off if all I got you was a pair of socks."

"You're right; I would." We left the shirts and took a shortcut through the underwear to get to the tills. "But men are notoriously hard to buy for and seem to actually like getting socks as gifts."

I'd been about to complain some more when patterned fabric caught my eye. "Hold up! Cowboy alert!"

I darted off to find that the patterned fabric actually belonged to boxers- three different designs. One had cowboys on horses with lassos and sheriff badges, one had Native Americans on paint horses with cacti and arrows, and the last pair had cowboy hats and boots printed on them.

I held Dimitri's size in the air triumphantly. "One gift down! I'm not a totally crappy girlfriend!"

Lissa rolled her eyes. "Get the pants in the basket and pipe down before we get kicked out for disrupting the peace."

"Lighten up! You're not Queen to these people, so you don't have to set an example." I flung an arm around her shoulders. "We're free!"

* * *

When we split up and Lissa went back to Dimitri and Christian, I was feeling less cheery. I couldn't help but think back to being chased through the mall whilst on the run for the alleged murder of Tatiana, and I could feel claustrophobia rising as more people packed into the huge building.

Leaving the mall didn't help much either, as I was reminded of where I'd been six months before that escape incident. Visions of Spokane haunted me as I moved further away from the mass of people, so I ducked into the first shop doorway on the narrow street I'd turned into.

A bell tinkled above the door as I entered, and I was immediately assaulted by the scent of old books. It reminded me of Dimitri, but not enough that I was tempted to jump the old man behind the counter.

He smiled at me as I shook snow from my boots, and pushed his spectacles up on his nose. He was maybe mid-sixties, and I would bet Christian's perfect gift that his name was Cedric or something like that.

"Hello," he said in a voice as rich as the scent of old paper.

"Hi." I waved awkwardly. He looked so happy that someone had turned up, but I really didn't have much of an interest in his wares. Trying to disguise it the best I could, I started perusing the bookshelf closest to me; the 'A' section. Recognising a book, I picked it up read the cover. It looked just as boring as when I'd read it the first time, until I opened the cover and saw an inscription there.

_To Eliza- Merry Christmas. With warmest wishes, Martha. 1927_

I closed the book and slipped it back into place before continuing along the shelf. It was warm in here, and since I had no better idea of where to head next, maybe I could stay a little while and figure out some semblance of a plan. My usual seat-of-pants method wasn't working when it came to what to buy for Dimitri.

"Can I help you with anything?"

I jumped at the sound of the man's voice. It had been so quiet in here that I'd unintentionally let my guard down. Turning around, I scanned the room for threats. I didn't see any Strigoi hiding between the bookshelves, but I did see something that caught my attention. Above the counter there was a poster from a western movie I'd watched with Dimitri, and it made me reconsider an idea I'd previously discounted. It wasn't overly imaginative, but it had to be worth a try.

"Yeah, I wonder if you can, actually." I stepped closer to the till. "It probably sounds kind of dumb, but my boyfriend loves Western novels and I literally can't find any he doesn't already have. Would you be able to check a list I have and recommend any good ones that aren't on there?"

The man's smile grew even wider, showing teeth. "Of course, show me the list. If Cecil doesn't know a book, it aint't worth knowing."

Cecil was close enough to Cedric that Christian's gifts were safe to remain with me. I surrendered my phone after pulling up the notes page, and Cecil chewed his lip as he scrolled down the list.

"There's one on there that's in Russian," I said. Dimitri had almost all of his books in both Russian and English, because he liked to alternate which language he read them in. I couldn't decide if it was endearing or just sad. "I think the title translates to something like Path of the Warrior?"

Cecil nodded. "That'd be right. I have a copy of that somewhere."

"I'll get that if nothing else."

When he finished reading a couple of minutes later, Cecil handed my phone back and stepped out from behind the counter. "I gotta say, there aren't many good books your boyfriend doesn't have. He's got good taste in Westerns."

Just not a good taste in books overall, apparently. "Okay, well thanks for trying," I said, disappointed that my plan had failed. Back to the drawing board.

"Not so fast," Cecil said cheerfully. "There are a couple of titles I can think of that he might like. And there's just one Louis L'Amour that wasn't on the list."

"Oh, yeah." I remembered this one. Dimitri had mentioned one ridiculously rare book that had only had one print run of about 5,000 copies. "The insanely expensive collector's one, right?"

Cecil nodded. "That's the one. I've seen two in my life time, and sold one of them for eight thousand dollars. The other came from one old lady's attic, and her grandkids decided to customise it."

"I don't suppose it's been made into an e-book, has it?" Maybe it wasn't too late to consider an e-reader.

Cecil disappeared out into a corridor. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be following, or preparing to fight him off in case he turned out to be a creep. My hand rested against my stake, and the metal felt cool even through the material of my baggy shirt.

Just as I was about to make a break for it, Cecil came bustling back out holding something wrapped in brown waxed paper. "Come and take a look at this."

I went back to the counter, where he laid out the package and untied the string holding the paper in place. Inside was a book, but it was missing its hardback covers. Unintelligible drawings had been scrawled across the front in coloured markers, but underneath the mess, the name of the book could just be made out, along with the author's name.

"This is it?" I asked incredulously, though the evidence was right there in front of me. "The rare collectors' book?"

"I wouldn't call this a collectors' edition," Cecil laughed. "It's hardly worth anything. One of the pages even has a doll chain cut out of it, though I managed to get a photocopy of the original from an acquaintance of mine." He turned to a page near the end that was indeed just printed on white paper. "I've had this book in storage for five years, and ain't nobody come asking about it until you. I asked my son to put it online for me a while back, but he couldn't care less about me or this shop. I'm retiring next year and have to get this whole place cleared out so I can move to Florida with my wife. If you want it, the book's yours for ten dollars."

"Done," I said immediately. I could barely believe my luck. "Chuck in a couple of other books that weren't on the list as well, and I'll help you with that retirement fund."

I left the shop with my wallet 50 dollars lighter and my bag 5 books heavier. I'd bought possibly the biggest pile of junk I'd seen in my life, but at the same time, probably the best Christmas gift ever.

By the time I got back to the others, I'd finished my Christmas shopping and had been left with enough time left over to go to a coffee shop and buy a coffee for Dimitri. He was driving us back to Court, and since it was coming up to 3am Vampire time, he had to be at least a little tired. I'd had to succumb to stealing a sip myself, however gross the drink tasted.

Our group wasn't hard to spot with Dimitri towering above everyone else and a Christmas tree box even taller than him. He relaxed a little when he saw me, smile growing even wider when he spotted the cardboard cup I was holding.

"I didn't want you falling asleep at the wheel," I said as I approached. "Aren't I a great girlfriend?"

Dimitri leaned down to greet me with a kiss. "Depends if you got a double shot."

I paused before surrendering the cup. "Double shot, dark roast, tiny dash of milk."

He took the drink before kissing me again. "_Perfect_ girlfriend," he confirmed.

Christian was making fake gagging faces, so I sneered back. "I also bought mince pies for everyone, but if you're feeling ill, then maybe I should eat yours for you."

He stood up straight, miraculously recovered. "Nope, I think I'll be fine. Thanks Rose." He must be really hungry if he was grovelling this much, and actually using my name sincerely. Lissa looked relieved that we were getting along and wouldn't be fighting on the way home and keeping her awake.

Dimitri lifted the tree, and I took his shopping bag in my free hand as we headed for the parking lot. All the gifts were bought, I'd wrap them tomorrow morning, then we'd decorate the tree. Then, it would be Christmas- our first Christmas spent together as a family.

* * *

**Much love, and once again, Merry Christmas! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Internet worked for 5 minutes, was able to save this chapter to the site. Now uploading it from my phone and it keeps crashing, so you're spared a long AN. Apologies for any weird formatting as a result of this. Hope you all had a great Christmas :) Disclaimer: VA is not mine. **

* * *

Chapter 2

"You stole decorations from the tree at Lissa's Yule Ball?"

"Yup." Christian leaned back against the sofa, acting oh so cool. "The Tarus tree, to be exact. You should have heard the fuss they were making about having donated it. 'Oh, each bauble is made from Italian glass and was designed exclusively for us in Venice.' The smug pricks had it coming."

I looked down at the red and white swirled bauble in my hand, and shook my head slowly. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. You have my respect. But repeat that, and I'll tell Rufus what you did."

Christian smirked. "Deal. And I won't tell anyone that you paid the chef to give you an extra portion at dinner."

"I did not pay Gary! I just told him how much I loved his cooking and made him realise how much more I appreciated it compared to the Moroi. He was more than happy to give me extra."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that."

Lissa suck her head around the corner from the hallway. "Are you two going to help us, or just sit there and chat?"

"Um..."

"I'm staying here," Christian said. "Miss Muscles can help."

"Miss Muscles will punch you if you ever call her that again."

"Proving my point..."

I knew Christian was just going to piss me off if I stayed here, so I went to help Dimitri and Lissa get the boxes in. The tree had already been put up, but we had all the decorations still to put on.

I set the box Lissa had handed me down on the floor by the fireplace, and Dimitri put his next to mine. One contained the stuff we'd bought from the store, the rest was from the Dragomirs' storage unit. Lissa hadn't wanted to face it, so I'd gone with Christian this morning to liberate the decorations. We'd made a truce then, but he'd been pissing me off ever since to make up for it. I wished I hadn't said I was impressed with him stealing the decoration now.

Almost as soon as the boxes touched the floor, Lissa was down there tearing it open. Tinsel garlands arched into the air as she threw them, and I watched as they torpedoed back to the ground like shooting stars. I took a step back as one went high, sailing up to loop itself over one of the arms of the chandelier. That stopped Lissa's crazy fit, and she sat back on her heels, looking perplexed.

"I like it... but it's wonky." Raising her hand, she tried to use her weak control over Air to move the tinsel where she wanted it. The glittery strands danced in the breeze, but she wasn't strong enough to move the metal wire where she wanted it to go. Lissa dropped her hand, looking disappointed.

Beside me, Dimitri reached up and caught the trailing end of the tinsel, stretching up on his toes to give him the extra boost needed to wind the garland around circumference of the chandelier.

"See that, Lissa? I brought home a useful man. Yours, on the other hand..." Christian had found a decoration that claimed to be inflammable, and was trying to prove the label wrong by engulfing the bauble in a fireball.

"Christian!" Lissa exclaimed when she saw what he was doing. "Stop doing that!"

He smiled at her. "It's cute that you're so confident in my ability to make this combust."

She glared. "It's not that, I don't trust you not to get distracted and accidentally set fire to the sofa instead!"

The fire went out and Christian wore his best wounded puppy face. "Lissa..."

Her glare immediately softened and she dropped the tinsel she was holding, hurrying to Christian's side. "I'm sorry Chris," she said as she sat beside him. "I know you could make it catch fire eventually, I just don't want you tiring yourself out in the process."

Christian took Lissa's hand and leaned in to kiss her. I turned away, rolling my eyes. "Unbelievable." I ripped the tape from the flaps of the second box of decorations. Stupid Christian. Lissa never forgave me that easily.

I smelled aftershave before feeling Dimitri sit down beside me. "It's not like we're so different," he said reasonably.

I knew he was right, but Christian had been more irritating than usual all day, and it was starting to get to me.

"We're _allowed_ to be like that, because it's our first Christmas together. Those two were all over each other last year as well."

Understanding dawned in Dimitri's eyes, and I had the feeling he had discovered something about my feelings that even I hadn't recognised yet. He shifted closer, putting an arm around my waist.

"You're not the only one being haunted by ghosts of Christmases past," Dimitri said quietly. "I know it's hard not to compare this year to last year, but for us, this year is about good beginnings. It's our first Christmas together, like you said. But it's Christian's first Christmas without Tasha, and despite the things she did, she's still the only family Christian had."

I glanced behind me to where Lissa and Christian were busy making out. It made sense now- I was grumpy because last Christmas had been crap and I wanted to make sure Dimitri had a better time here with me than he had with Tasha last year. It was silly, but explained why I had been so worried about finding the perfect present for him. It had taken Dimitri's perception to help me realise that.

But I wasn't the only one thinking of Tasha. Whilst she was The Bitch That Stole Christmas in my eyes, she was more like Santa Clause to Christian. The last link to his family childhood Christmases was gone, and in such a horrific way too. She was in a cell in Tarasov, still awaiting her penalty.

"Oh," I said. I looked back at Dimitri, who was already watching me. "Do you miss her too?"

The words surprised me as much as they did him, but Dimitri took them in his stride.

"Not like that. We hadn't seen each other for a while before last year, and I'd already accepted that I probably wouldn't see her again after Ivan's funeral. In reality, that's pretty much the case. She might have acted the same on the outside, but the Tasha I knew was gone long before I saw her again last year." He paused. "I mourn the friend I lost along with Ivan, but the person who murdered Tatiana and framed you for it is a stranger."

Christian cleared his throat behind us, which was a bit hypocritical considering Lissa's tongue had been down there about a minute before.

"What are you two whispering about?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Things that would scar you for life if you heard," I said. It was probably true, just not in the way he thought. "Come on. Get up and help decorate, and I'll even give you one of my chocolates."

Christian blinked. "Has it been on the floor? Has it been poisoned? Does it contain explosives?"

"Nope. Just Christmas cheer. It's making me feel generous today."

"Wow. I guess Christmas miracles really do happen."

I really wanted to shoot back a sarcastic response, but that would defeat the object of being nice in the first place. "I guess they do. Make the most of it."

VAVAVA

It took about an hour to get the tree decorated, layered up with lights, tinsel, and a billion ornaments. Christian hid the one he had stolen from the Ball at the back of the tree, because he was too scared to face Lissa's wrath.

I had no such qualms.

"I always hated this angel," Lissa said. She held up the porcelain doll that the Dragomirs had always given pride of place at the top of the tree. It _was _quite hideous. "I thought I wouldn't mind it anymore, but if anything, I hate it even more now. I wish I'd got something else at the store."

"We could always modify a star decoration from somewhere else," Christian suggested, not wanting to see Lissa upset.

She shook her head. "It would be too small. It'd look stupid."

I reached under the sofa and removed the box I had stashed there two days ago. "No need to panic, Lissa. I knew this would happen."

With a flourish, I lifted the lid of the box to reveal the gold star inside. Real gold, as in the precious metal, not just the colour.

Lissa stared, wide-eyed. "Where did you get that?"

"The Ozera tree at the Yule Ball. I figured since a quarter of _our_ tree belongs to Christian, it wasn't really stealing as it wouldn't be leaving the family." Christian reached into the box and removed the star, which was heavier than it looked, being solid gold and all. "They didn't even notice it was gone- just ordered the cleaners to remove the tree from the ballroom and put the decorations in storage."

"How the hell did you manage to get this down?"

"Guardian secrets," I said with a wink. Secrets that involved a dart gun from one of the luxury Christmas crackers available at the Ball, a blob of chewing gum, and some dental floss.

Lissa and Christian still looked incredulous, but Dimitri didn't look surprised. In fact, he looked like a man who'd given up altogether on having an opinion concerning certain peoples' dubious activities.

"It's really pretty..." Lissa conceded, and I knew I was off the hook.

"Do you want to put it on the tree?" I asked. It had always been her job in the past, and she'd joked about how much she wanted to drop the ugly, scary angel.

But it seemed Lissa was ready for new traditions. "No," she said as she shook her head. "You got the star, so you should be the one to put it at the top of the tree."

Grabbing the star from Christian, I ran to the base of the tree and stretched up, trying to reach the top. My excitement faded a little as I realised that the height of the tree combined with the wide base meant that I would never get close enough to put the star on the tallest branch.

Suddenly, something gripped my legs. My immediate reaction was to struggle, but another arm wrapped around my waist as I was hoisted into the air. I relaxed a little as I realised what was happening, just in time to hold in a squeal that Christian would have teased me about forever.

"Don't hit me," Dimitri laughed as he let me go, now sitting somewhat safely on his shoulder. I clamped one arm around his neck for stability, squeezing just a little too tight for just a moment.

"It's a good thing I didn't have my stake on me!" I looked down at him, intending to keep up the rebuke, but his smile caught me off guard. He looked so happy, so full of delight at the stunt he'd pulled that he reminded me of a little boy on Christmas morning. Maybe the rainbow coloured fairy lights were throwing me off, but I was sure I felt myself fall a little more in love with him right there.

His smile turned out to be contagious. "Get me a bit closer, then. I don't want to miss the tree and drop the star on your head."

Dimitri complied, and I held tight as he walked another couple of steps closer. Keeping hold with one arm, I reached out and aligned the hole at the bottom of the star over the top branch of the Christmas tree, before carefully lowering it into place.

"Saucy," said Christian from below, and I lost it. I choked on a laugh and wobbled precariously, so Dimitri had to do an emergency evacuation. He pulled me from his shoulder and caught me bridal-style, his smile now one of amusement. He went to put me down, but I held on tighter. This had never really happened when I was conscious before, so I was going to enjoy it this time. Dimitri shifted me to a more comfortable position, but didn't let go.

"That wasn't even meant to be that funny," Christian said, giving me a strange look.

"And that's why it was. When you try, your jokes are crap. With the right timing, it's easier to make someone laugh," I explained sagely.

"Are you saying I have natural talent?"

"Yes," I said. "For saying inappropriate things at the worst possible time."

Christian shrugged. "I'll take it."

VAVAVA

Later that evening, after we'd made it through Lissa's Christmas music playlist, a cheesy film, and copious amounts of mince pies, Dimitri and I were getting ready for bed. I picked out a red shirt to wear (his, of course) to get in the festive spirit. It also happened to be the one Dimitri had been intending to wear when he got out of the shower (which we'd shared) so I got to see him walking around in a towel for an extra minute whilst he got a different T-shirt to wear (which was always a bonus).

"I'm sure you do this on purpose," Dimitri said as he rummaged through the chest of drawers.

"What?" I asked, tearing my eyes away from the drop of water slowly making its way down the valley of his spine.

"Hide all my good clothes at the bottom of the drawer so it takes me longer to find them." He turned around, and I forced myself to keep a straight face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're a terrible liar, Roza."

"Only to you."

Dimitri smiled, this time looking about as far from an innocent little boy as possible. That smile could mean only one thing, and I was more than happy to see it. I shuffled backwards towards the headboard as Dimitri came closer. The end of the bed dipped under Dimitri's weight as he knelt on the covers, crawling closer.

It was shaping up to be a very merry Christmas eve indeed.

VAVAVA

"Dimitri," I whispered. I was sure I could feel him breathing faster than he would be if he was unconscious. "Are you awake?"

"Mmm," he hummed in response. I took it to mean 'sort of'.

"I can't sleep," I said before extricating myself from his arms. He grumbled some more as I sat up, sighing as he realised I wasn't going to shut up and stay still.

"What's the matter?" he asked, sitting back against the headboard and pulling me closer again.

"Nothing's really the matter. It's weird. You know when you're young you have the whole 'wanting to sleep so Santa will come but you're so excited and so scared of not being asleep that you can't actually sleep' thing?"

"I guess..."

"Well, I have that kind of panicky can't sleep feeling now, which is ridiculous and just really irritating. It's like I know there's no need to panic or be so excited, and I'm not even actually registering those emotions, my body's just responding as though I am. It's like... I'm one of Pavlov's dogs, and the Christmas bells ringing are making my mouth water even though I know there's no food anywhere." I took a deep breath when I finished. Man, I was starting to sound like Jill. It would be a miracle if Dimitri had even understood a word of that.

"That's very deep for..." he leaned over and checked the clock on the bedside table, "1 O'clock in the morning."

It was, actually. If only I'd been able to remember so much about Pavlovian response in my Animal Behaviour final.

I looked away from Dimitri's face, which was just visible due to the light seeping in through the gaps on either side of the heavy blackout curtains. It was well into Christmas day already for the rest of America.

"Sorry," I sighed. "I'm being weird. You should just go back to sleep."

"It won't be any use if you keep wriggling around like you were before," he said, turning my face back to his. "I obviously didn't tire you out enough earlier."

I smirked, turning my cheek into his palm. The air outside the cocoon of the duvet was cold, but his hand was warm. "I don't think that's the problem. My body's tired, it's just my mind that refuses to settle down."

Dimitri looked sympathetic, stroking my cheek before settling back down into a lying position again. I lay down as well, resting my head on his shoulder, and hoping that this time I'd actually be able to get to sleep.

"You're not going to have much luck if you keep your eyes open," Dimitri said, the words reverberating through his chest. "Just empty your mind and focus on counting your breaths or your heartbeat. Re-start after every four."

I decided to count _his_ heartbeat instead, but quickly lost track when Dimitri's fingers started combing through my hair in gentle, rhythmic strokes. I leaned into the pressure, wondering why I hadn't thought of this before. It felt so good that my brain couldn't do anything but get lost in the feeling.

"Sleep, Roza," Dimitri murmured, before saying something in Russian. At least, I thought it was Russian. It could very well have been English, but I was already too close to the edge of consciousness to understand.

* * *

Will get next chapter up ASAP, Internet dependent. Hopefully before New Year. Thanks for your patience :)


	3. Chapter 3

**So I didn't quite get this up before New Years Day, depending on whether the site runs on local time or just American. I guess it really only matters on U.S time, since that's where it's set. Yep, that's my logic. **

**On that note, I'd like to say that I try to keep these fics as American as possible, but since I've never even visited the States, it's difficult sometimes. A guest pointed out that this fic seems to portray more of an English Christmas, which probably is the case. I appreciate the feedback :) I've tried harder to keep this chapter more canon by doing some additional research, and I'll blame any lingering non-American stuff on the cosmopolitan nature of the Moroi world ;P That being said, if anyone has any tips that would make this seem more like Christmas Day in America, then feel free to leave them in a review and I'll keep them in mind when writing holiday-related fics in the future :) **

**If anyone feels like reading a New Year fic, then there's one I wrote last year that you can check out if you want. There's a Christmas one from last year too. **

**New Year's Resolution No 1: Keep A/Ns shorter!**

**Anyway, I hope you've all had a good night whatever you've been doing, and I wish you all the absolute best for 2015!**

* * *

Chapter 3

I awoke to warm kisses being pressed to the nape of my neck, which was much more pleasant than the usual wake-up call of the wail of an alarm clock. Did life get any better than this?

"Is this part of my Christmas present?" I murmured, stretching out against Dimitri's body.

"It could be," Dimitri replied, "but there are better ones waiting under the tree."

"Better than this? Never." I turned over to see a scene that never ceased to amaze me, even after months of waking up to the same thing. Dimitri lay next to me, head propped up on his hand as he smiled down at me. The bedside lamp cast an orange glow across the gilded room, making the already idyllic vision seem even more like something out of a dream.

I reached out and ran a hand across Dimitri's chest before splaying my fingers against his back. It was silly, but sometimes I still felt the urge to remind myself that this was real. If this time last year someone had told me I'd wake up to this on Christmas morning, I'd have referred them to Deirdre and her friends for some serious counselling.

A noise from outside the room dragged my attention away from the incredibly gorgeous man in my bed. There was a moment of panic before I recognised Christian's voice. It sounded like he'd walked into something.

"Lissa and Christian got up about ten minutes ago," Dimitri confirmed. "That's what made me wake up, and I didn't think you'd want to miss out on anything. Honestly, I was surprised that last night's excitement didn't have you up and about much earlier," he finished with a teasing tone.

"That was my body being weird, but something really crazy has to be going on before I wake myself up early." I thought I caught the scent of something cooking outside. To be fair, that could also wake me up. "Do you think Christian is making bacon, or just starting the ham?"

Dimitri laughed, running a hand up and down my spine. "I'd say bacon, but don't get your hopes up too high until you've actually seen it."

Throwing the covers back, I was out of bed like a shot. I grabbed my red fluffy dressing gown from the floor and dashed to the door. "If it's not bacon, I'll be back!" I called before running from the room.

Lissa was already on the couch with a cup of coffee cradled in her hands. It was a Christmas mug with Rudolph's face on it.

"Rose!" she called. "Merry Christmas!"

"It will be if Christian's making bacon. Is he?"

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "Lots of it."

"Then Merry Christmas to you too!" I shouted before barrelling into the kitchen, only to be stopped by Christian. He stood in the doorway, brandishing a large knife. The expression on his face was his 'I could go Strigoi and kill you anytime' one from the Academy, but the flowery apron he wore kind of dampened it down a little. Overall, though, it was enough to keep me from advancing any further.

"Hold it there, T-Rose," Christian said. "Come into my kitchen and I _will_ cut you, Christmas or not. You are not going to steal any food before it is divided up equally and shared between the four of us."

"Geez..." I put my hands up in surrender and backed away. "I was just coming to say hi. I guess I'll go and cry now."

When I reached the couch opposite Lissa's, I flopped down and sprawled with my head dangling over the end. Somehow the tree looked even prettier when looking at it upside down. It also gave me a great view of the presents which were haphazardly strewn underneath. Most of them were mine; I'd been the last to put my gifts there so they'd basically overrun everyone else's.

Someone turned on Christmas music, so I closed my eyes and basked in the festivity until someone picked up my legs and sat down before draping them back over their lap.

"Christian's just finishing up with breakfast," Dimitri said, which spurred me to sit back up again. Indeed, there he was, just coming out of the kitchen with a large tray in his arms.

"Stay..." Christian said, as though giving instructions to a dog. "You'll get your food in a minute. Hungry Dhampir plates are on the right, Moroi plates are on the left."

Sure enough, two of the plates had double the amount of bacon and pancakes on than the other two. I passed one to Dimitri before digging into my own enthusiastically. The Moroi had gone to the feeders last night so they could skip today and eat more food than they usually would. They were still no match for us, though.

"So good..." I hummed in contentment as I sucked the last drop of maple syrup from my finger.

"Save it for the bedroom, Rose," Christian quipped.

Dimitri looked scandalised, and to annoy Christian even more, I moaned and made my best sex-face. Christian pretended to throw up, and Lissa nudged him.

"Chris, you're just encouraging her. Rose, you're making Dimitri uncomfortable."

"I know. Isn't it fun?" I patted his cheek, and he glowered back. Okay, bad idea. Time for a subject change. "Maybe we should open some presents now?"

"Yes! I'll get them." Lissa jumped up from the couch to fall to her knees beneath the tree, grabbing presents and sorting them into piles by recipient. The gifts I was giving were easy to spot- I'd put them all in boxes I'd got from the Court kitchens so I didn't have to wrap them up. Then I'd stuck on little metallic bows and drawn on Christmassy pictures with a marker pen. The result was that they looked like I'd made an effort, and not at all like I'd realised last night I'd forgotten to buy any wrapping paper.

Lissa pushed our individual piles so that they rested by our feet, then hopped back onto the couch to snuggle up with Christian again. "What order are we going to open them in?"

"Left to right?" Dimitri suggested.

"Yeah," we shrugged. I could wait until last to open my first present, but I really wanted Dimitri to open his one from me. I was starting to doubt whether it was as good as I had originally thought. What if he wasn't impressed with a battered old book that was so abused it actually had pages missing?

Lissa's happy squeal brought me out of my worrying as she opened her present from Christian. She'd only ripped enough paper off the long, rectangular box to see the pale blue colouring of something from Tiffany's.

"Christian!" she exclaimed, bouncing in her seat.

"I guess this would be a bad time to say that the box was a decoy?" he joked.

Lissa huffed as she carefully untied the silver bow. "You value your life too much to do that. You..." She fell silent as she removed the tissue paper.

Leaning over to get a better look, I saw that it was one of the classic silver heart necklaces that she had coveted since we first watched _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ when we were about eight years old. There was a matching bracelet in the box too, and as she lifted it out, I saw something was engraved on the back.

_L &amp; C  
forever_

The letters were entwined in a flowing script, which I lost sight of when Lissa threw her arms around Christian's neck and babbled out a million thank yous. He stroked her hair as he smiled, and for a moment, he wasn't the most irritating person I knew. I was also glad that the bond was gone, since I had no doubt that what Lissa was feeling right now would have sucked me right into Christian's embrace, and I would have lost all the warm fuzzies I'd suddenly developed for him.

When Lissa let go enough for Christian to move, she allowed him to put the new jewellery on for her, then proceeded to become absorbed with playing with the heart charm on the bracelet. Christian watched her fondly.

"I'm going to open Rose's present," he said, "because Lissa will be irritated if she doesn't see me open hers, and she'll be equally annoyed if I interrupt her Gollum impression."

Seeing how she didn't even react to the name-calling, I was inclined to agree with his assessment of Lissa. She could totally clinch a part should Lord of the Rings ever be re-made with a beautiful female hobbit.

Christian unfolded the flaps on the box, looking less than impressed at the stockings I'd drawn on each side of the cube. Shame. It had taken me a whole two minutes to draw those. He then pulled out another box, this one belonging to the gift itself.

"I charged it, so it's all ready to fly," I said as Christian stared at his new remote control helicopter.

"This is... actually a good present."

"No need to sound so surprised. I guess this means you've bought me coal as a joke."

"No," he said quickly as he opened the tab on the end of the box, sliding the copter out. "I was just hoping to trump you with my present, but I think we're about even."

He got the remote out next, and after setting the red helicopter down on the floor, made it take off an fly around the room.

"Since they're preoccupied, I'll have to open yours," Dimitri said. "Which one first?"

I pointed to the larger of the two boxes, feeling the anticipation building, but trying to stay cool. "Um, that one I guess."

He leaned down to pick it up, quickly placing a hand underneath to support the bottom of the box. "That's heavier than it looks," he said as he lifted it onto his lap, though he still made it look effortless.

"You get a workout whilst you unwrap. It's all part of the Hathaway Gift Service."

"Very impressive." Those long, powerful fingers of his slipped under the tape holding the box together and opened it oh so slowly. The suspense was killing me.

Dimitri chuckled when he saw the seven stack of seven books in the box, lifting them out one by one to read the covers. He was trying to act cool, but I could see his delight at all the new stories at his fingertips.

"The guy in the book shop recommended them," I explained as I watched his eyes skim the back cover, reading the words as though they were the doorway to some magical new world. And I guess that's what they were, for him. "He said you already had most of the best ones, but that these were good too."

"You mean you actually asked someone about buying Western novels?" Dimitri actually spared me a glance between books. I didn't mind being ignored a little bit, since the whole point of shopping to find the right gift was that they enjoyed it. You couldn't fake this kind of interest. "You overcame the shame of it?"

I sighed dramatically, willing him to read a little faster. He had taken five books out of the box so far. "There's not a lot I wouldn't do for you, Comrade. Even buy crappy books from slightly scary shops."

Six books. Dimitri paused in his investigation of the box to wrap an arm around me and kiss my forehead. "And I'm very grateful for it, Roza."

There were only two books left in the bottom of the box. It was pot luck which one he would take out next...

Damn. He turned it over to read the cover, and I reached the end of my patience.

"Read them later, once you've seen them all. I want to open mine sometime tonight!"

Dimitri gave me a funny look, but placed the seventh book on the stack and reached into the box again. He frowned as his fingers brushed the greaseproof paper wrapped around the fragile old book.

"What's this?" he asked as he took it out. "You've actually wrapped something. That's a miracle in itself."

I knew I didn't need to tell him to be careful when he opened it- he always handled books like he was handling the most fragile of flowers. It was the only way Olena had let him read the gold-bound books that had kindled his love of westerns in the first place.

Dimitri froze when the wrapping was half off, and the book's title page was just about visible beneath the crayon scribbles. He glanced at me, and I nodded encouragingly. Then he turned back to the paper and tugged the book from the confines of its wrapping.

He turned a couple of pages, cautiously flicking through to see if it really was what he thought.

"I hope you don't mind it's so ratty," I said. "But, you know, my pay check wouldn't stretch for a collect-"

I was cut off with a kiss, and leaned into Dimitri immediately. He pulled back after a moment, staring with wonder at the book in his hands.

"Where did you find this?" he asked, amazement colouring his voice.

"In this little old second-hand book store outside the mall yesterday. The old guy who ran it is retiring next year, so he let me have this when I explained what a cowboy geek you were. I was pretty amazed-"

"_This _is amazing. _You _are amazing." Dimitri's brown eyes were still full of wonder, but this time, it was directed at me. I glowed under the warmth of the love in his gaze. I had totally nailed the Christmas gift, even without those cowboy boxers.

"Merry Christmas, Comrade," I said as I caressed his cheek, wanting to lock that smile into my memory forever.

He kissed me again, this time not pulling away immediately. His hands bracketed my waist and held me tight, the book lying half-forgotten on his lap. Slipping one hand under the collar of his shirt, I dragged him even closer. I didn't really care what lay wrapped in the parcels at my feet; the best gift was right here. It was my family; Lissa and Christian, and those that would be joining us later today or in the next week. It was the freedom that I finally had to love whom I loved, and be with him without pain or guilt. It was Dimitri, the soul that completed mine in the same way that our bodies tessellated so perfectly right now.

A whirring noise above our heads made us break the kiss, and we looked up to see mistletoe floating inexplicably above our heads. It moved a moment later, swaying enough to give a view of the red helicopter than was holding it suspended from a piece of ribbon.

"It's not like you two ever need a reason to start," Christian quipped, "but I figured that since it's Christmas and I'm feeling generous, I'd give you a reason to linger."

We all laughed, and I swatted playfully at the mistletoe. It was manoeuvred out of the way before I could touch even a leaf.

"You're an idiot," I told Christian. "And a lot more romantic and thoughtful than you like to let on."

He smirked. "I was actually just testing out the 'hover' setting so I could use it for me and Liss." The copter shifted to above their heads before stopping there, and not a moment later they were caught up in another kiss.

I shared a conspiratorial look with Dimitri. The rest of the presents could wait a minute or two. "If you can't beat them..."

"...Join them," he finished, before lowering his lips to mine again.

* * *

**Oh, and has anyone else noticed that the in-site spell checker has disappeared? That usually picks up a load of mistakes that Word doesn't (or that Word actually created), so sorry if there are any errors :/**

**Once again, Happy New Year! xx**


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